Chapter Two Hundred Twenty: 'O, makeshift stratagem...'

Thankfully, the meeting between Hanton and the King did not last much longer. Perhaps they could tell that Hector had other matters to attend to now but nonetheless still felt obligated to keep an eye on King William. Whatever the case, Hector was grateful that he could get back down into Warrenhold and meet with the Rainlords directly about the report from Vantalay.

The details he learned were even less encouraging than those provided to him by Mara.

As one might've expected, this "Killer of Krohin" was a famous member of Abolish. Not in the same league as Ivan, perhaps, but still potent enough that the Rainlords felt that they would have to send someone of incredible strength in the event that a battle broke out.

There was discord, however.

Not everyone agreed that reinforcements should be sent at all. A strong constituent of Rainlords wanted to simply abort the mission and call the Triplets back to Warrenhold.

And indeed, Hector could see the wisdom in that decision. Whatever the Sword of Unso might be capable of, it probably wasn't worth this level of risk. There were other locations they could send the Triplets.

But this crisis in Miro was a problem. This was exactly the kind of thing that Hector had been worried about. And now there was Donald Elias to worry about, too? Suddenly, Hector had several reasons to keep this mission active.

Agh.

What a mess.

Hector was considering sending Leo, but would that really be wise? Leo seemed to be making progress and fitting into his new job rather well. It seemed a shame to disturb that relative peace so soon after finding it. Plus, this mission was supposed to be covert. Sending someone as powerful as Leo--or Melchor, for that matter--would increase the risk of drawing attention to their operations.

Not to mention, sending Leo without Ericoros' help could also prove problematic. Sure, Leo was strong, but any servant without a reaper would be significantly handicapped. The Triplets didn't have their reapers with them, either, but they were working undercover.

Could Leo do the same?

Hector was having a hard time imagining that. Leo? Being stealthy?

No, if he sent Leo to Vantalay, then he should expect things to escalate to full-blown combat. Leo's attachment to Miro was too big of an issue, as well. It would probably turn into a huge fight to free the town.

But maybe... that would be for the best?

They were talking about human trafficking here. Hector could hardly imagine a more worthy reason to pick a fight. Trying to be stealthy at this point--what would that accomplish, exactly? How could they possibly rescue Miro without a fight?

Maybe through negotiating with the government? Or those influential companies that Hanton mentioned?

Eh... that seemed like a foolish hope, honestly. Maybe it was a bit premature to be thinking that, but Vantalay was in a state of chaos, right now. Did the government have time to worry about a single town?

And hell, it was unlikely that this problem was afflicting just Miro. Something like human trafficking? It was probably a regional problem, at the very least.

'That, or it's government-sanctioned,' said Garovel privately. After a long evening of listening to heated discussions in the Grand Hall of the Night, everyone had finally retired to their chambers, but Hector and Garovel were still talking about it.

'Sanctioned?' said Hector. He didn't want to humor the notion that the government itself could be behind the human trafficking going on in Vantalay, but he wasn't so naive as to think it impossible. 'Really?'

'Sure,' said Garovel. 'Vantalay is one of the invading nations in the war. I can't say I have much faith in their moral values, at the moment.'

Hector frowned as he took a deep breath. And not for the first time that evening, he asked the reaper, 'So what do we do?'

Garovel was silent, perhaps not caring to repeat that he didn't know.

This stalemate was getting them nowhere. Hector needed to say something to push the conversation forward, even if he already had a fair idea of how Garovel would react.

'Maybe I should go to Vantalay myself.'

'No,' the reaper said flatly with no discernible surprise. He'd been expecting that suggestion, hadn't he?

'I know it's not exactly ideal, but--'

'It's a bad idea, Hector.'

He shook his head. 'I'm not saying it isn't, but I can't let Melchor go, either. He's the most reliable warrior in Atreya, right now. If he leaves, this war gets a whole lot scarier. Leo gets a whole lot scarier.'

'You are a stabilizing force in this country, Hector. And not just in terms of the economy. In terms of Leo as well. You leaving would be much more dangerous for Atreya than Melchor leaving. Hardly anyone even knows he's here.'

'That's just public perception, Garovel. I'm talking about actually protecting the country from potential invaders. Or from Leo. Melchor is way more valuable in that regard than I am. No question. We NEED him to stay. And the attention he would draw in Vantalay...'

'Hector. While you're not as famous as him internationally, you're nuts if you think no one would notice you suddenly showing up there. And we have to consider the greater context of the continental war. Above all else, we can't allow this mission to look like an act of aggression from Atreya. YOU would represent Atreya. Melchor would not.'

'I could take steps to conceal myself,' countered Hector. 'In fact... that's something I was already thinking about doing here in Atreya, even before the war started.'

'What are you talking about?' said Garovel.

'We've got loads of servants here in Warrenhold now, and some of them are getting pretty antsy, right?'

'Yeah, and?'

'And I'm known for wearing a full suit of metal armor when I'm out on patrol,' said Hector. 'Sure, everybody in Atreya knows my face at this point, but I don't have to actually show it in order to still show up in the media.'

'...You're talking about letting someone else wear your armor?' said Garovel.

'That's right. Maybe even more than one person. I could leave tons of backup armors behind, just in case.'

The reaper was hesitant. 'Yeah, okay, that might work for the media, but it won't work with Leo. He listens to you, not the person wearing your armor.'

'Well, I could just tell him what I'm doing. Part of this is for his and Ericoros' sake, after all. Keeping it a secret from them would be dumb.'

'And you think he won't want to go to Vantalay with you?'

'That... I don't know. If I tell him to stay, though, then I think he will. Like you said, he listens to me.'

Garovel sighed. 'None of this addresses the core concern of remaining hidden while in Vantalay. You represent this nation, Hector. If anyone recognizes you while you're there, your actions could inadvertently destroy Atreyan neutrality.'

'I get what you're saying. That's really important. But I could wear a disguise while I'm there. It would be a lot easier for me to keep a low profile than it would for Melchor.'

'There are other candidates. It doesn't have to be either you or Melchor.'

At that, Hector had to shake his head. 'I'm not so sure that's true, Garovel. If I'm going to win any amount of trust from Ericoros on this, then... I need to go personally. To show him how serious I am about it.'

'Maybe, but that's a huge gamble,' said Garovel. 'Even if the mission succeeds in every conceivable way, there's no guarantee that it would move Ericoros' heart--or that we could trust him if he claimed that it did.'

'But it would be a big step in the right direction,' said Hector. 'I know it's a risk, but I can't just sit on my ass and expect Ericoros to fall in line. I've gotta do something to prove myself, and how many other opportunities do you think we'll get? Especially with how stubborn reapers are? Another chance like this might never appear, Garovel.'

'Okay, first of all, that's stereotyping, and I resent the implication. And second of all, the problem isn't that it's "a risk," in the generic sense of the term. If you slip up, it's not just YOU that you're putting in danger. It's all the citizens of Atreya. Can you really tell me that you're okay with that? Especially when we could just send someone else? Impressing Ericoros isn't that important, Hector. In fact, doing something so reckless might even have the exact opposite effect on him.'

Agh.

Hector sat down on the edge of his bed. That was a really good point, he felt. As much as he wanted to keep arguing with Garovel, it was difficult.

Was there even a good decision to be made here? It seemed like both options came with huge downsides.

'And besides,' Garovel continued, 'the Killer of Krohin is no joke. That motherfucker is internationally famous for a reason. In the event that you had to fight him, you shouldn't assume that you could handle it.'

Hector breathed and tried to be rational. 'How much do you know about this guy?'

'I don't know much more than what you already overheard the Rainlords mention earlier,' said Garovel.

Indeed, the Killer of Krohin had been a big subject in the Rainlords' discussions that evening.

Apparently, his real name was Thaddeus Croll, and the "Krohin" part of his moniker referred to a city in Lyste that had been slaughtered at his hands. It was unclear, however, if the Killer was single-handedly responsible for every death or if he had merely been the one to issue the order. Either way, the man's reputation was for his utter barbarism and mercilessness.

The Rainlords had also said that the Killer was famous for using blades of all kinds, supposedly being deadly with virtually any type of sharp object.

That seemed an odd descriptor for a servant, Hector felt. Perhaps whatever the man's ability was didn't lend itself very well to conventional means of combat. Like integration, maybe.

'Not much more is still more, Garovel.'

'Well, it's just some old rumors. Who knows if they're true or not? And giving you false information could be just as bad or worse than giving you no information.'

'I'll keep that in mind, then. Tell me.'

Garovel took his time answering. 'Okay... ah... do you remember when I told you about my last servant? Simon?'

Hector blinked. Oh shit. 'Yeah?'

'Remember how I told you that Simon's entire team walked into an ambush and got killed?'

Hector could see where this was going. 'You're saying Thaddeus Croll was involved in that?'

'Like I said, it's just an old rumor. I don't know for sure. I didn't go with Simon on that mission, and he hated talking about it. But yes, I think it's likely that he was involved.'

Hector wasn't sure how to respond. He could see why Garovel was reluctant to tell him about it, though. Fuck.

'Which means,' said Garovel, 'that the Killer of Krohin is at least sixty years old as a servant by now--probably more, if he was involved in such a deadly operation even back then. I think the Rainlords are right to believe that Melchor is the safest person to send against such a foe. And there's no telling who else might be in Vantalay, right now. It's a big country. I doubt Croll is the only major threat there. The Triplets have already reported seeing scores of reapers haunting Ridgemark.'

Hector rubbed his forehead. 'When you tell me all that, I feel like we shouldn't send Melchor alone.'

'Of course. The Blackburns intend to send a supporting team with him.'

Hector eyed the reaper. 'I know. That's not what I mean.'

Garovel paused. 'You think we should send another one of our best fighters with him?'

'Melchor is our best check against Leo,' said Hector. 'If Melchor leaves, then Leo becomes a much bigger threat to Atreya. Unless...'

'We send both of them?' said Garovel.

Hector gave a reluctant nod.

'Your reasoning makes sense, but... that also sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.'

'All of our options sounds that way, right now, Garovel. Hell, even if we pull the Triplets back and do nothing, that could piss off Ericoros and potentially Leo.'

'Hmm.'

'Maybe we should even send a third or fourth strong fighter, too,' said Hector. 'Someone powerful enough to directly assist Melchor in case Leo goes out of control again.'

'This is getting messy.'

Hector bobbed his head to side a little. 'Well... you're not wrong about that.'

-+-+-+-+-

It seemed like things were going start moving very quickly very soon, but for the moment, the Triplets still had some downtime to work with.

And they were spending it in Ridgemark.

They didn't want to make a move on Miro by themselves, but they could still pursue the Sword of Unso in the meantime.

It was hard to look at Ridgemark the same way, though. The utterly miserable and inhumane conditions in Miro lingered in Raul's mind. Knowing that there was such suffering taking place within such close proximity of the city left a bad taste in his mouth, even as he filled it with another extravagant meal.

He didn't have much of an appetite. And his two brothers were much the same, he noticed. The three of them were all lingering over their half-eaten dinners, prodding their food or staring at it while obviously lost in thought.

He'd never seen slavery in person before.

He knew, however, that the term "slavery" lacked certain important context and could, in truth, refer to very different circumstances to what one might imagine. He remembered how the reapers of House Blackburn had made a point of teaching all of the family's young servants--and even non-servants, indirectly--about slavery throughout history. Their Arman ancestors had fought against the slave-hordes of the Lyzakks, after all. The subject was very near to their hearts, on a cultural level, even if the practice was comparatively rare in the modern day.

In the ancient world, slavery had often been used as a form of legal punishment. It provided criminals with a path to redemption, if they agreed to become a slave for a designated period of time to the person whom they had wronged. Steal from a shop owner? You could pay him back through slave labor.

And slave owners, supposedly, were held legally responsible for the well-being of their slaves. Physically abusing them was outlawed and could even result in the early termination of their slave-contracts.

Raul could understand such practices, especially since those people didn't enjoy the same level of prison infrastructure as they did today. Hell, a part of him could even see that system as being, in some ways, better than simply throwing criminals in a box and leaving them to rot. The opportunity for penance was invaluable as a means of reintegrating criminals back into civilized society.

It made sense to him.

But not all slave trades had been conducted that way, of course. Far from it, in fact.

The slavers that had taken control of Miro were perhaps the worst kind. The kind associated with Abolish.

Raul had only observed the town for a few hours, at most, and he hadn't even gotten that close. He'd found a vantage point atop a rocky cliff and spied on the inhabitants with binoculars. But in that short time, he'd witnessed public beatings and people being branded like cattle. He'd seen groveling and weeping in the streets. And he'd seen forced labor as well. A large field of orange trees sat on the western edge of the town, and a handful of people were being forced to pick the fruit.

It didn't seem like slave labor was their chief motivator, however. The number of slaves they had on the job was small when compared to how many were being tormented in the rest of the town.

No, Raul suspected that they were mainly being rounded up and shipped off to be sold elsewhere. And indeed, those suspicions soon turned out to be accurate when he witnessed a big truck being loaded up with people who had been freshly branded by their captors.

Kidnapping for the purpose of the slave trade obviously had enormous historical precedence as well, but as far as Raul knew, the practice had all but disappeared in the modern day. Most forms of slavery today were variations on wage slavery. Not this.

Only real monsters could get away with this.

Esai broke the silence of their dinner, stirring Raul from his thoughts. "If they're still branding them, then the take over must have been pretty recent."

Neither Raul nor Adan responded.

They were in the privacy of their own hotel room, but Esai was still purposely leaving some identifying words out. No mention of Miro, nor what the "branding" specifically referred to. Perhaps it was an unnecessary precaution, but you never did know who might overhear, even in places of seeming seclusion.

Esai's gaze didn't lift up from his meal, though he didn't seem like he intended to eat the rest. "There's a chance that they won't stick around for much longer," he said.

"More than just a chance," said Adan.

Raul knew what they were getting at. The slavers were traffickers. As soon as they'd moved the residents of Miro, there would be no reason to stay. And the reinforcements from Warrenhold still needed time to organize. Even if they got on a plane right now and made the flight today--which was unlikely--they might still miss their window to rescue the remaining townsfolk.

And those Abolish bastards might get away.

But their reapers had made it clear. This mission wasn't about getting involved in the problems of the local residents. They weren't on a mission to stomp out injustice or protect the innocent. They were just here to observe. To gather intel. And locate the Sword of Unso, if possible.

Raul understood that. Esai and Adan did, too. They had priorities. And reinforcements were on the way. They could just wait. They could go diving, looking for that "sunken cave near the two-toned rock" again. If all three of them went together, maybe they'd actually find it this time.

Raul heard himself say something. "What if...?" He didn't finish the sentence, but he suddenly had his brothers' undivided attention.

"What if what, bro?" Adan urged.

Raul struggled for the right words. It was a dumb idea, still half-formed in his mind. "What if... we just... delay some stuff?"

His brothers eyed him steadily, then glanced at one another.

"Harassment," summarized Esai.

"They won't like that," observed Adan.

"Who won't?" inquired Esai.

"Everyone," answered Raul. "Going against the grain."

"Yeah, bro, true," concurred Adan.

And there was silence.

"So should we do it?" said Esai.

"Hell yeah, bro," they both said.